Harry van Kruiningen - Unique geometric abstract "Perforatum" Etching - H.C. copy - 1960s - Sold

Special, so-called "perforatum" etching, a graphic technique developed by Harry van Kruiningen in the 1960s. This large etching is in very good, sharp condition and is titled "perforatum III".

Signed in pencil lower left.

• Harry van Kruiningen (pseudonym of Henri Adelbert Janssen) (Kruiningen (municipality of Reimerswaal), was a Dutch painter, graphic artist, illustrator, monumental artist, designer of posters and book covers, was a muralist, maker of mosaic objects, ceramist, teacher at an academy, author of children's books and publisher. He painted landscapes, still lifes, portraits and made etchings and lithographs.
  
  He studied at the Institute for Applied Arts Education in Amsterdam, the later Gerrit Rietveld Academy, and at the Drawing Institute 'Piersma' in Amsterdam between 1927 and 1928. He was able to follow this education because he received an inheritance at the age of 21. After graduating, he worked as an independent artist for the rest of his life, under the pseudonym Harry van Kruiningen. In 1928, he had his first exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum as a member of De Onafhankelijken. He mainly painted works in the style of De Nieuwe Zakelijkheid, a form of Realism. Harry van Kruiningen was a member of the SDAP for a short time from 1923 and soon switched to the Communist Youth League De Zaaier. From 1926, he was a member of the CPH, later CPN. Even before the Second World War, Van Kruiningen joined the resistance group of the communist Daan Goulooze. He made false identity cards on a lithograph press and brought German communist refugees to safer areas.
  
  After the liberation, Van Kruiningen became a lithographer and also mastered other printing techniques. His work became more abstract and imaginative. He made four bibliophile folders with lithographs for Le Canard: Ovidius (1953), Achnaton (1954), Gilgamesh (1955) and Heer Halewijn in 1956. His children's books De Tovertuin van Eekje Hoorn (1949) and Eekje Hoorn overwint (1948) for publisher Pegasus in Amsterdam, are illustrated with lithographs and drawings. From 1958 to 1971 he was a lecturer in Graphic Techniques at the Academy of Visual Arts in Arnhem. He achieved his greatest fame as a graphic artist.
  
  In 1970 he made a series of etchings for the Amsterdam Historical Museum Life and Randomness in Amsterdam. Publisher Heuff in Nieuwkoop published a book with etchings about Multatuli in 1973 and about Spinoza in 1975. In 1977 the Driehoek published the book: The Origin of Life, followed by The Origin of Sexuality (1980). The basis for the books were the etchings about these subjects.
  
  In 1959 he won the Sports Prize of the Prince Bernhard Fund with an etching about a sailing competition. In 1962 he was the first graphic artist to receive the Critics' Prize and in 1965 a silver medal at the international book and graphic exhibition in Leipzig.
  
  He was a member of the Socialist Artists Circle (SKK) ca. 1926-1936, De Onafhankelijken (1928-1942), Vrij Beelden (Amsterdam 1946-1955), Liga Nieuw Beelden (Amsterdam 1955-1969), Arti et Amicitiae from 1962-1996, Association for the Promotion of Graphic Arts 'De Grafische', Federation of Associations of Professional Visual Artists in Amsterdam, the Haagsche Kunstkring, and Pulchri Studio also in The Hague. In 1958 he founded the Grafisch Atelier Amsterdam. He has participated in more than 150 exhibitions in the Netherlands and abroad. His work can be found in the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Museum, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and museums abroad (including MoMa).
  
  He continued to paint until old age. Harry van Kruiningen died on 30 June 1996 in the Rosa Spierhuis in Laren. He was cremated at the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats in Amsterdam. A monograph with an oeuvre catalogue of Harry van Kruiningen is in preparation.